When I was 8 years old, me, my sister and my dad traveled to Wales to visit my dad’s side of the family. It was October, the month of my dad’s birthday, and my sister and I scoured every shop we passed in downtown Cardiff for just the right gift, waving frantic, silent hand motions every time he turned his back to signal to the other that we’d seen something he might like.

We passed an antique shop with a Celtic clock sitting in the window case, perched in a box lined with plush, burgundy velvet. It was heavy iron and boasted intricate Celtic knot carvings that framed the face of the clock. It stopped my dad in his tracks as he turned to admire the craftsmanship. As a proud Welshmen, he beamed with pride for the culture that the clock represented.

My sister and I knew instantly that we’d found precisely the right gift. Now the two of us — 8 and 10 years old, respectively — were faced with the challenge of getting back to the shop without my father in tow.

We scraped together every cent of the souvenir money we’d been saving from our weekly allowances back home and convinced our grandfather to drive us back to the shop later that afternoon. It didn’t matter that we’d no longer have money for the toys and treats we’d originally budgeted our money for — we knew we’d gotten just the gift for our dad.

Even 14 years later, I still remember my dad’s face when he opened that gift. It was one full of pride and admiration and pure joy. To this day, the clock is the main attraction in his living room and he never hesitates to tell visitors the story of how he came to own it.

I’m sure if you ask any dad what his favorite gift from his children is, he’d go into a story similar to the one my dad recalls — one that centers around the thought that his children put behind the gift.

We all hear it all the time: “It’s the thought that counts.” So the Surfside News wants to know the thoughts behind the love this community feels for their dads. Just like we did for Mother’s Day, we’ll be offering an awesome prize package for the winner of our Father’s Day contest, which asks the question, “What makes your father special?”

Submissions can be poems, essays, paintings or drawings and need to be submitted via email to me at ashleigh@malibusurfsidenews.com, or sent to 28990 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 108, Malibu, CA 90265 by 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 5.

Make something that your dad can add to his collection of proud parent moments and let the community know just what he means to you.